Rubens Barrichello reveals brush with death

Former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello has revealed a scary brush with illness.

In February, the 45-year-old was admitted to hospital after suffering from a severe headache.

He has now appeared on Globo’s Conversa com Bial programme, where he showed a hefty scar on the side of his neck.

The Brazilian said he had suffered a stroke, and had a benign tumour removed.

“I am lucky,” said Barrichello, who last raced in F1 in 2011.

“When I left the hospital, I was told that only 14 per cent return home as I did.”

“I was at home taking a shower and suddenly I felt a pain in my head. From 0 to 10, it was a headache of 8-9 [magnitude] – so strong,” he recalled. “I lay on the floor, [and] did not want to wake anyone.

“I went into the room and I woke up Silvana, the pain was very strong. I started to feel sick and I knew that it was hospital situation. After everything that happened, I had a bunch of check-ups to find out more about my health condition and they found a small tumor on my neck, which they removed after a race I did in Interlagos

“I had it removed because, even though it was a benign tumour, it would’ve grown and I don’t want to have that kind of discomfort in the car. A friend of ours who is a doctor saw that I was not well and in a very bad shape.

“He said, I am lucky. The vein that opened by a bad formation, regenerated by the blood itself in two hours. When I got to the hospital, they put a catheter through the groin and the vein had closed”